name names


Specify persons by name, especially those who are accused of something. For example, More than one person was involved in the robbery, and his lawyer said he would get a shorter sentence if he named names. It is also put negatively, name no names, as in Some of our neighbors disobey the town's leash law, but I'm naming no names. The negative form was first recorded in 1792.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use name names in a sentence

  • I don't like to name names, but as we're all friends here, I don't mind saying he were a downright blackguard.

  • Were it not that I have no desire to be personal I could name names and make it clear to the public those who don't know how.

    Nat Goodwin's Book | Nat C. Goodwin
  • Among us it is unnecessary to name names or publish identities.

    Miss Hildreth, Volume 2 of 3 | Augusta de Grasse Stevens
  • It wasn't for her to name names, but a certain young man had gone far, very far.

    The Honorable Miss | L. T. Meade
  • They are not Old Chester people—so you won't mind if I don't name names?

    An Old Chester Secret | Margaret Deland